Type-writing machine.



T. L. KNAPP. TYPE WRITING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED DEozv, 1907.

Patented N ov. 17,'1908.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

@iff/765565; @W I@ T. L. KNAPP.

TYPE WRITING MACHINE. APPLIOATION HLED DBO. 27, 1907.

Patented Nov. 17, 1908y Y 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

f IVriting Machines; and I do hereby declare ,v a part of thisspecification.

- the paper-carriage under the action of the such as accents over or inconnection with vinafter set forth and more particularly pointed out-inthe appended claims.

`writer of the Oli-ver type, Figure l is a 4Uivirnn smal grani* orticaTHERON L. 'KNAPR OF WOODSTOCK, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE OLIVERTYPEWRITEH COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

TYPE-WRITING MACHINE Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 17, 1908.

'Application led December 27, 1907. Serial No. 408,257.

To all whom it 'may concern:

Be it known that I, THERON L. KNAPr, a citizen ofthe United States, anda resident of lVoodstock, in -the vcounty of McHenry and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Typethatthe following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, andto theletters of referencemarked thereon, which forni This invention relates to improvements intypewriting machines and more especially' to an improved means in such amachine wherein certain characters may be printed witlibut any feedmovement or shifting of letter-spacing mechanism, as is necessary, forinstance, in printing special characters,

the regular letters or characters. Types for printing special charactersare operated by one or more key-levers which effect movement of saidtypes without actuation of the letter-spacing mechanism of the machine,and which are foi this reason usually termed dead-keys The inventionconsists in the matters here- In the accompanying drawings which showthe invention as embodied in a type-` view in central, vertical,longitudinal section of a typewriting machine embodying my invention.Fig. 2 is a transverse, vertical, detail section,'taken.on line 2 2 ofFig. l. Fig. 3 is a fragmentary section, taken on the line 3 3 of Fig.2. Fig. et is a view showing, partially in longitudinal section, aconneeting rod through which is operated the ribbon-throw mechanism.Fig. 5 is a perspective View of a lever which connects the auxiliarykey-lever with parts which operate the ribbon-throw mechanism.

In saiddrawings, only such parts of the typewriting machine areillustrated as are essential to an understanding of the application ofthe several features of the invention thereto.

The general construction of the machine is l like thatshown in the priorUnited States Letters Patent to Thomas Oliver, nnmberi 599,863, grantedMarch 1st, l898; and its details, other than those relating to thepresent invention, are similar to those illustrated in the prior UnitedStates Letters Patent to Cross and Griffiths, number 834,565, grantedOctober 30th, 1906. As shown in said drawings, l designates thebase-plate of the machine having a lower, forward, horizontal part 2 anda rear, elevated, horizontal part v3.

4, i designate a plurality of key-levers which are arranged below therear elevated part 3 of the base-plate and are pivoted at their rearends to a slotted fulcrum block 5 ldepending from. said part 3. The saidkeylevers are connected by upright links 6 with U-shaped type-bars, 7,'7, such as are employed in said Oliver typewriting inachine.

8 indicates the platen which is mounted in a paper-carriage 9. Saidpaper-carriage rests and has endwise movement on a shift.- frame IOhaving backward and forward shifting movement on the base-plate in orderto bring the printing point of the paper beneath one or the other of aplurality of printing types carried by the type bars. Said shift-frameis provided with transverse guide-rods 11 and i12 on which travel thesupporting wheels or rollers 12% and I4 of the carriage, and with arearwardly.extending guide-rod or stein l5 which passes through aguide-standard 16 on the rear of the part of the base-plate.

1T designates an upright escape-wheel shaft located near the center ofthe machine and mounted at the front of the shift-frame l0. Said shaft17 is provided at its upper end with a gear pinion I8 adapted to engagerack-teeth formed on the forward, longitudinal frainebar I9 of thepaper-carriage. Said lshaft 1T has attixed toits lower end anescape-wheel 20 which operates in connection with an oscillatorycscapement lever 2l which extends from the front to the rear of themachine and is pivoted 'to the shiftframe so as to swing in a verticalplane. The forward end of the lever 21 carries a pawl 22 which isadapted for engagement with the escape-wheel, which latter is turnedunder the impulse imparted thereto by the carriage-actuating spring, inthe manner set forth in said prior patent to Oliver. s.

23 indicates a transversely arranged, vertically movableA space -barlocated beneath and adapted for actuation by the key-levers.,

Said space-bar constitutes part of an Voscillating frame whichA isformed by inea'nsl of saidY space-bar, a rock-shaft 2e arranged paralleltherewith atthe front part of the machine and a plurality of arms whichrigidly connect the said rock-shaft with the' yoke isarrangedhorizontally and adapted.

to receive a; stud 28 whichis fixed to tno armY of lthe space-bar frame.Through the 2o medium of the slotted yoke, vertical movement of thespace bar is transmitted to the lever and backward and forward movementof said lever with the shift-frame is perm tted by said slotted yokewithout affecting 25' the action of the escapeinent devices.

1 The Vspace-bar 23de thrown upward by' means oi" an expansively acting,spiral, iiit- 4ing spring 29 which is arranged vert-ieal beneath bseidspace-bar and bears against the 3c saine'at its upper end. lliesaidupper end ci the spring 29 is held in place by nient with adepending. stud on 'the space- .baix- The lower end ci said sprinrfrests on a bracket 30 which depends ifro horizontal part 3 of thebase-pla, Thel machine illustrated is prov a ribbon-throw device Lorxnoving ing the-inking ribbon to carry it over the ed with strikingpoint of the types and to retract 4o ittherefrom, corresponding gen allywith that shown in said @liver patent i o. 599,363, and which comprisesparts as follows: A rigid supporting arm 8l is attached to theshift-frame and extends upwardly to a point in front of the platen."rllhe upper part or' said supporting arm is provided with a torwardlyextending horizontal arm Two parallel,' oscillating links 33 and 3d arepiv-.

oted at their lower ends, one to the arm and the other to. the top ofthe standard 3l.

The rearmost link 3e is pivoted to 'the supporting arm by means of arock-shaft 35,

to which said link 34 is i'ig'idlyattached.

.To the upper ends of said links is pivoted a horizontally. arrangedguide plate 36 which extends towards` the platen and is provided at itsrear end with two ribbonguides or guide-loops 37, 37 located at oppositesides of the printing pointa The pivoted links described aiord movementof the guide-plate horizontally toward and from the printing point. Foractuating the guideplate, the rock-shaft is provided with 'e rigidcrank-armBS to which is pivotally connected the upper end of aconnecting rod 39 which or sliiiiti senses y extends downwardly to' andhas pivotal engagement with the forward end of the'escapement lever 21.These parts are so arranged that when any one of the key-levers el, e isdepressed, the escape-lever will be moved in a direction to depress itsforward' end with the connecting rod 39, .and the upper ends of thelinks andthe guide-plate thereon will be thereby advanced toward theplaten. The inkingribbon lwill be thus carried over the printing point,and,'when the lkey is released and the type-bar rises permitting therising of the space-bar, the said guide-plate and ribbon will bedrawnzbackwardly from the platen.

Referring' now to the features of construction constituting my presentinvention: The connecting means between thelower end oi the connectingrod and the end of the escapement-lever 21 comprisese vertical slot inthe lower end of said connecting rod, i Len is ek `ged by pivot pin [iiiinserted t rough il of said escapement-lever; the purpose of theslot-and-pin connection neng to permit the 'connecting rod to be raised,by means hereinafter to be describe l, to aetuate the ribbon-throwmechanism with.- out imparting' movement to said esca-pementlever. ificontractile, coiled spring el, (iB-lig. 4) attached fr upper end to astud t-2,

proj 'ste f .n the connecting rod 3Q, a id at its lov end to tneprogecting of the p et pin d0, acts to draw the connecting rod downwardand te normally retain the pin Il@ in the upper end of the slot in 'theconnecting rod.

e3 designates en auxiliary key-lever which extends from front to rearot" the machine and is pivoted at its rear end to the iulcrum 1clock 5.Said key-lever #i3 is connected with a type-bai" which carries tliespecial type to 4be operated by tlie said key-lever, but which 'type-baris like the others of the seriesfof type-bars 7, 'i'. Said key-lever sofar'as its function o actuating its connected typebar is concerned, ismade like, and operates in tlie same manner as, the other key-levers.Said key-lever 43,"lioweyer, at a point 4above the space-bar'23 is cutaway or notched on its lower edge, so as to permit depression of 4saidke -lever without Contact with or operation or the said.. space-bar.lnasmucli as the said auxiliary key-levers@ does not give any movementto the spacebar,'andit is necessary that movement be given to.v rtheribbonthrow device, in `the depression of said aniriliary key-lever, inorder that tlielribbon n" y be moved over the printing point when typeoperated by said auxiliary key-leve brought against the paper,aconstruction is provided as follows: dei indicates a horizontaloperating lever which extends from front to rear ci the machine andpivoted at its rear end to tliefiilerum block Said lever is pivoted in amanner allowing its ,forward end to swing in a vertical plane and isarranged with its said forward end beneath to 'the connecting rod andguide-plate throughv the pin 40,`acting on the upper end of the slot inthe connecting rod, and in the descent of the said rear end of theescapement lever, its mot-ion is transmitted tosaid connecting rod andthe guide-plate through the medium of said spring 41, Said slot and pin,together'with the spring, therefore, constitute a connection between theescapement lever and connecting rod, adapted normally tov transmitmotion from the escapement lever to the ribbon-throw device positivelyin one direction and yieldingly in the opposite direction for advancingand -retracting the ribbon, and which is adapted to yield in onedirection in a manner to permit the connecting rod to be movedor liftedrelative to,

' or without any movement of, the /escapement lever, when the connectingrod is moved by actuating means separate from. the said escapementlever; thatis to say, by the action of the operating lever 44 arrangedand opeiating as above set forth. At a point in its length above thespace-bar, lsaid lever 44 is notched in its lower edge (Fig. 1) to allowrising and falling movement of said connecting lever 45.

lever without its coming into contact with said space-bar. 45 indicatesa transversely arranged, horizontal connecting lever which is' pivotedbetween its ends to a bracketmember 46 depending from the horizontalplate 3 of the machine. Said lever 45 extends from a point beneath theauxiliary key-lever 43 to the lever 44 and its end beneath saidkey-lever 43 is provided with an upwardly extending arm 47 adapted forcontact with said key-lever. Said arm 47 has in its upper end anupwardly opening notch adapted to receive the lower edge of saidkey-lever 43. A contractile, coiled spring 49, connected at its upperend with the op-4 erating lever 44, and at its lower end with thebracket 30, holds the forward end of the said lever 44 at the downwardlimit of its movement so that the connecting rod 39 will Vbenormally'free to rise and fall, without restriction by reason of thepresence of the end of-the lever 44 beneath it. These parts are soarranged that depression of said keylever 43 will depress the adjacentend of the At its opposite ends said transverse connecting lever engagesthe longitudinal operating lever 44 in such manner that the upwardmovement of said opposite end will impait upward movement to the lever44 to effect the actuation of the ribbon-throw mechanism. A connectionbetween the two levers 44 and 45 is provided consisting of a depending,integral arm 48 on `the lever 44, which depending arm is provided with aslot or opening through which projects the end of the lever 45, whichlatter lever in its upward movement acts on the upper edge 4of the saidslot and effects thereby the lifting of the same to actuate theribbon-throw mechanism, as above described.

Vith this construction it will be seen that: when the auxiliarykey-lever 43 depressed,` it acts, through the levers 44'and 45', toactuate the type-bar connected therewith and the ribbon-throw.mechanism, without actuating the spacing mechanism. The said type-barwill carry a type-head adapted to print accents and like characters thatare to be omitted in some instances and printed iu other instances, suchas the acute, grave and circumex accents-so that such characters may beprinted immediately over letters; it being obvious that no vspacingmovement of the carriage should take place between the printing of theletter and of the character, Vwhen the latter is to be placedimmediately over the latter, or is otherwise associated therewith. A f Iclaim as my invention .1. Ina typewriting machine, the combination withtype -bars, key-levers, letterspacing mechanism embracing an oscillatingescapement-levei; which is operated by said key-levers anda ribbon-throwdevice, of a connecting rod for operating the' said ribbon-throw devicefrom the said escapemcntlever, having connection with the latter bymeans transmitting motion to the connecting rod positively in onedirection and yieldingly in the opposite direction, an auxiliarykey-lever connected with one of the typebars and which has no actionupon the letterspacing mechanism, and means operated by said auxiliarykey-lever and acting on said connecting rod to givel movement to theribl bon-throw device.

2.111,22, typewriting machine, the combii nation Iwith type-bars,key-levers, a vertically movable space-bar extending beneath thekey-levers, letter-spacing mechanism operated by the movement of saidspace-bar and embracing an escape'ment lever which oscillates in avertical plane, vand a ribbonthrow device, of an lupright connecting rodfor transmittin movement'to said ribbonthrow device rom the escapementlever, said connecting rod having connection with said escapement leverby means transmitting motion to the connecting rod positively in onedirection and yieldingly in the opposite direction, an auxiliarykey-lever'provided with a notch in its lower edge above the saidspace-bar, and means operated by the said auxiliary key-lever adapted.to act upon the said connecting rod for giving 'movement to theribbon-throw device.

' 3. In a typewrt-ing machine, the combination with type-bars,key-levers, letterspacing mechanismE operated 4by the keylevers* andembracing an oscillating-escapenient lever, and a ribbon-throw device,of an upright connecting rod for operating the ribbon-throw device,having slot-and-pin 4connection with said escapement lever, a

spring lconnecting -said escapement lever with said connecting rod,an'auxiliary keylever connected with one of said type-bars and which hasno action upon the letterspacing mechanism and means operated by saidauxiliary key-lever and acting on said .connecting rod to give movementto the ribbon-throw device.

4. Ina typewriting machine, the combination with type-bars, key-levers,letterspacing 'mechanism operated by the keyconnection with saidescapement-'lever, a

levers. and embracing an oscillating escapenient-lever, and aribbon-throw device, of an upright connecting rod for operating theribbon-throw device, having slot-and-pin Yspring connecting saidvescapementlever with said connecting rod, an auxiliary key- `leverconnected with one of said type-bars and .which has no actionl upon4 theletterspacing mechanism and means operated by saida'uxiliary key-leverand acting on said connecting' rod to give movement to the ribbon-throwdevice, embracing a vertically swinging operating iever located beneathand adapted to act upwardly upon the lower end osaid connecting rod.

In a typewriting machine, the combination with type-bars, key-levers,letterspacing' mechanism operated by the" keylevers and embracing anoscillating escapement-lever, and a ribbon-throw device, of an uprightconnecting rod, for operating the ribbon-throw' device, havingslot-and-pin connection with said escapement lever, .a

vlocated beneath 'annees hina-tion withl the type-bars, key-levers, a6o' space-bar located beneath and acted upon by the key-levers,vletter-spacing mechanism op- Y erated by the movement of said' space-barand embracing an esca ement-lever which oscillates in a vertical p ane,and a ribbonthrow device, of an upright connecting rod for transmittingmovement from said esca ement lever to the ribbon-throw device, saidconnecting rod having slot and'- pin connection `with saidescapement-lever, a spring applied between the said escapementlever andthe 'connecting rod, an auxiliaryV key-lever provided with a notch inits lower edge above the said space-bar, a longitu-4 dinally arranged,vertically swinging op- 75` erating lever, the moving end ofl which islocated in the same vertical .plane with and is adapted to act upwardlyupon the lower end of said connecting mdp-and atransverse connectinglever, pivoted between 8O 1 its ends and which is engaged yat one endwith the said key-lever and at its opposite end with the said operatinglever.

ln testimony, that I claim the foregoing as .my presence oftwowitnesses, this 18th day of December, A. D. 1907.

THERON L. KNAPP.

Witnesses: Y

L. L. SGHROEDER, E. R. HOY.

invention I aflix myc signature 'in .the 85.

